Springfield daily republic. [volume] (Springfield, O. [Ohio]) 1887-1888, 1887-01-18
THE RAGPICKERS.
ONE ELEMENT OF THE POpuLA-
TIcN OF A GREAT CITY.
Blue Blood Owners of Horses and
wagons-Aristocrats of the Hand Cart.
Rummagers of Morning and Night.
Life Near the Dumps.


nent of the busy population of great city
ike Brooklyn, and careful observation of
| their methods will reveal some curious and
! interesting facts They are properly di-
sided into four distinct classes, each having
( separate field of action and seldom in
| fringing upon the territory Of the other divis-
ions Of the fraternity. The first class, who
>ould quite properly be called the upper ten
| IF ragpickeidom, includes the itinerant deal
srs who conduct their business by means Of
Hlapidatei looking horses and wagons. They
! would undoubtedly Indignantly resent their
classification with ordinary ragpickers, but
| candor compels me to name them such.
They pay an annual license fee of 3 for the
privilege of buying the city's rubbish.
They pay a higher price for goods than
r, the men who propel the handcarts, and fire.
Juently hire shops Of their own for assort-
ment and storage Of their purchases. They
generally carry on a thriving business and
| from long experience and acquaintance
know where the choicest rags are found.
They have regular dates for calling on small
tailoring establishments in order to secure
the cuttings and trimmings which are too
small to bs used by rag manufacturers.
They also get the pickings Of small shirt
factories, printing houses, book binderiss
and score Of similar establishments
THE HAND CART ARMY.
The second class comprises the army Of
hand cart dealers who can b. seen every
lay pushing their trucks, adorned with
from one to a score Of motley shaped, sized
and toned bells. along in front Of them.
They are avaricious in their dealings, man
age to live in moderate circumstances, and
Are willing to purchase a number Of articles
which most people classify as rubbish. But
what is rubbish to some people-iron and
other metals, bones and old uPets and mul
titude Of similar articles-is thus bought by
the thousands Of pounds daily. This class
is always well posted in the tricks Of the
trade, and have CERTAIN streets which they
have drummed for years. By long expert
ence they learn which Of their customers
will sell his rags at any price, and which
will haggle with them over the last penny.
They often find unexpected treasures In
their purchases, and rarely return anything
valuable that thus comes within their clutch.
We now come to the third class Of rag
pickers who are by far the most aggressive
in their methods l refer to the rummagers
who are abroad early in the morning and
late at night, oyerhauling our ash cans and
ash barrels. They are mostly Italians, and
carry huge bags and long iron book, not
unlike a stove poker. They are numbered
by the thousands, are almost unacquainted
with the laws and customs Of this country,
live in the poorest class Of tenements, and
by the most stringent economy and indus
try manage to save up quite respectable
bank accounts. The inborn passions of the
italian race are but little modified BY our
climate, or by contact with our people, and
fatal affrays are OF frequent occurrence
among them. They are clarnish, preserve
their national customs subsist on the cheap
est food and endure privations and hard
ships that would kill nine out Of ten Of our
native population. This class take every
thing from a barrel that their hooks will
drag forth-old boots, shoes, hats, rags,
fragments of carpet, bottles, corks, horse
hair, feathers, paper, wood, coal, cigar
stubs-indeed everything except ashes and
clinkers. Often the barrels of brown stone
fronts yield rich finds 10 these delivers.
,..- A PLETHoRIC BUNDLE.
One day I saw swarthy fellow stop be
fore half dozen barrels grouped on the
sidewalk before a Clinton avenue house, and
haul forth article after article, among
which were the following: A Turkish rug,
which was not in shreds by any means, and
which undoubtedly saw subsequent service
in the finders betchamber; an old hat
which was Immediately substituted for q
dilapidated cap on the finders bead; old
shoes, rags and articles of tin ware, which
were thrust into his roomy bag, aud an sp-
pie and a crust of bread, which, after a few
preliminary polishes on milord's soiled coat
sleeves, were ravenously devoured He
had arrived at this spot with q bag having a
laos loII &aI h... IL
with plethoric bundle, under whose weight |
he could hardly stagger.
Harvest time with all rag pickers comes
In the spring. For then 1t is that houses |
are cleaned, families move, old carpets are |
thrown away, old garments are discarded |
and thousands Of articles find their way to |
the teeming ash barrel. Brooklyn pays about |
$65, 900 annually for the removal of its |
ashes, and last year over 280, 600 loads were |
carted to the low lots which abound In |
South Brooklyn and elsewhere 1t Is near
these dumps, In miserable bowels, that the
last, but by no means the least, class Of this
great family Of ragpickers dwell They are
up betines in the morning awaiting the ar
rival Of the ash carts like as many vultures !,
would await the coming Of prey, aud no
carrion crows ever plunged their talons in
the carcass Of dead COW with more vorac-
ity than these people settle down to frouzy |
examination of the ash heaps. A person
would suppose that little remains IN the
ashes after the rummaging of the Italian
street pickers But men, women and chill
dren by the hundreds work there with bag
and basket from sunrise to sunset. Old /
coal scuttles, pots, kettles, pans, broken
hats, caps, bonnets, cas-. of gar
ments, feathers, CT al, wood and multitudes
Of similar articles are taken to the finders
shanties and cleared and repaired for per-
sonal use. Old metal, rags paper, bons
bottles, tin can. and scraps Of tin, hair,
corks, bits Of le"ther and rope are carried
away for assortment and sale-Brooklyn
Eagle.